Candidates announced for inaugural 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for volleyball
August 26, 2010
OVERLAND PARK, KS – Thirty NCAA® women’s volleyball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as candidates today for the first-ever Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in volleyball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.?
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 2010 candidate class includes eight American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Americans from last season. Twenty of the 30 have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better. Two of the candidates were recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America as 2009 Academic All-Americans, and 12 are members of teams ranked in the AVCA’s preseason top 25 poll. Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winners during the 2010 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in December.
The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
“We are excited to add women’s volleyball to the award program and are encouraged by the strong group of women who make up our first class of candidates,” said Tom Lamb, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing. “These student-athletes are outstanding leaders and have contributed many hours to make their universities and communities better places.”?
Volleyball 2010 Candidates
| Name | Position | School |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Anderson | Setter | University of Nebraska |
| Jennifer Berwanger | Outside Hitter | Southern Illinois University |
| Ellie Blankenship | Libero | University of Northern Iowa |
| Nina Camaioni | Outside Hitter | Loyola University (Maryland) |
| Laura DeBruler | Outside Hitter | University of Illinois |
| Allyson Doyle | Outside Hitter | Western Michigan University |
| Francie Ekwerekwu | Middle Blocker | University of Oklahoma |
| Nikki Fowler | Outside Hitter/Right Side | University of Tennessee |
| Lauren Gibbemeyer | Middle Blocker | University of Minnesota |
| Amanda Graham | Middle Blocker | Robert Morris University |
| Jenna Hagglund | Setter | University of Washington |
| Christy Hudson | Right Side/Middle Blocker | TCU |
| JennaRae Jester | Middle Blocker | University of Wyoming |
| Alex Kelly | Middle Blocker | Lipscomb University |
| Chelsy Kimes | Outside Hitter | Coastal Carolina University |
| Alix Klineman | Outside Hitter | Stanford University |
| Lauren Krupsky | Outside Hitter | Central Michigan University |
| Tracey Lam | Libero | Rice University |
| Carli Lloyd | Setter | University of California, Berkeley |
| Jamie Mellies | Setter | Seattle University |
| Jade Michaelsen | Setter | University of New Mexico |
| Sabel Moffett | Middle Blocker | Northwestern University |
| Stephanie Niemer | Outside Hitter | University of Cincinnati |
| Becky Novacek | Middle Blocker | University of Dayton |
| Lauren Rapp | Right Side Hitter/Middle Blocker | University of Kentucky |
| Chloe Smith | Right Side Hitter | University of Central Arkansas |
| Mary Ashley Tippins | Setter | Georgia Tech |
| Dana Vargas | Setter | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Arielle Wilson | Middle Hitter | Penn State University |
| Lexi Zimmerman | Setter | University of Michigan |
